Picadilly City Info

Sign up to our Newsletter

Things to do

Picadilly Circus, London (UK) » City Info » Visa Requirements

Visa

A visa is a vignette that is applied for in advance of travel and which gives you permission to enter the UK.

If you have a valid UK visa you are not normally refused entry to the UK unless your circumstances have changed, or you gave false information or did not tell important facts when you applied for your visa.

When you arrive in the UK, an Immigration Officer may ask you questions, so carry all necessary documents that are relevant to your visit in your hand luggage.

you are applying as an Academic Visitor and intend to stay in the UK for more than 6 months;

you are applying as a parent of a child at school and intend to stay in the UK for more than 6 months;

you are applying as a Prospective Student;

you are stateless (you do not have a nationality);

you hold a non-national travel document (a travel document which does not give you the nationality of the country that issued it), or

you hold a passport issued by an authority that is not recognized in the UK.

Length of your stay in UK

Visitors can stay in the UK for a maximum of six months at any one time with the exception of Academic Visitors and the parents of children at school who can stay for up to 12 months.

Types of Visas

General Visitors

General Visitors include visitors who want to travel to UK as a tourist or want to visit their family and friends. For applying for this kind of visa you must be able to prove that, you intend to stay not more than six months and leave UK at the end of your visit. Also you must have enough money to support yourself and live in UK without any support from public funds or a job.

Business Visitors

If you are employed abroad but want to visit the UK for short periods to undertake business related activities you may be eligible to do so as a business visitor. Anyone wishing to visit the UK as a business visitor should be based abroad and not intend to transfer their base to the UK, even temporarily; and receive their salary from abroad, although it is acceptable for them to receive reasonable travel and subsistence expenses whilst in the UK; and not be involved in selling goods or services. As a business visitor, the maximum permitted stay as a business visitor is six months. If you often visit the UK, you can apply for a visa that is valid for one, two, five or ten years. You can then visit the UK as often as you like while your visa is still valid, but you can only stay for up to six months on each visit.

Academic Visitors

A person can visit UK as an Academic Visitor provided that a person is on sabbatical leave from an overseas academic institution who wishes to make use of their leave to carry out research here (e.g. to do research for a book) OR an academic (including doctors) taking part in formal exchange arrangements with United Kingdom counterparts; OR an eminent senior doctor or dentist coming to take part in research, teaching or clinical practice. The maximum permitted stay as an Academic Visitor is 12 months.

Sports Visitors

Sports Visitors can travel to UK if they coming to the UK as a sportsperson OR are members of the technical or support staff of amateur or professional sports people OR an official is attending the same event or series of events as the sportsperson/people.

Entertainer Visitors

The new entertainer visa has been designed for those coming to the UK for a short time to take part in certain major arts festivals, music competitions and charity events.

Special Visitors

Special Visitors are visitors those travel to UK for the following purposes:

for private medical treatment

for getting married

Parents of children at school in the UK

Child Visitors

Student Visitors

Prospective Students

Visitors in Transit

Visa Requirements

A fully and appropriately completed application form which is available online as well as at your nearest UK consulate.

Your passport or travel document.

A recent passport-sized (45mm x 35mm), colour photograph of yourself. This should be:

taken against a light-coloured background

clear and of good quality, and not framed or backed

printed on normal photographic paper, and

full face and without sunglasses, hat or other head covering unless you wear this for cultural or religious reasons (but the face must not be covered).

The visa application fee. This cannot be refunded, and you must normally pay it in the local currency of the country where you are applying.

Any supporting documents relevant to your application.

Supporting Documents

bank statements, payslips, or some other evidence to show that you can pay for the trip and that you have enough money to support yourself and any dependants without working or getting any help from public funds, and

evidence that you intend to leave the UK at the end of your visit (for example, a letter from your employer).

If you are visiting family or friends you will need:

a letter from your sponsor (the person you are visiting) explaining your relationship with them and the purpose of your visit, and

a copy of the bio-data page (the page containing their photograph) of their UK passport or, if they are not a UK national, evidence of their immigration status in the United Kingdom.

If your sponsor will be supporting you during your visit, or paying for the cost of the visit, you will need:

payslips, bank statements, or some other evidence to show that they have enough money to support you.

How long will my visa be valid for?

Generally visit visas are valid for six months. But they can be issued for longer, for 1,2,5 or 10 years. However, those with longer term visas can still only stay in the UK for six months at any one time, other than Academic Visitors and parents of children at school as outlined above. Longer term visas are generally issued to frequent travellers.

Please note: The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk. Please contact your nearest embassy for accurate, up-to-date information.